New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, February 3, 2017

Over 1 million new records have been added to our collection of Australian Electoral Rolls. The new additions cover Queensland and Tasmania and will allow you to discover where your ancestor lived and whether they were eligible to vote.

We have also made vast improvements to our Australian Electoral Rolls search. Previously the Rolls existed as simple PDF searches that could only be accessed separately, state by state. We have now fully transcribed these collections and placed them into one central collection. This makes searching for your Australian ancestors easier than ever before as you can now search across all 12.6 million of these valuable census substitutes at once. The entire collection covers New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia and spans the years 1860 to 1959.

Early emigration from Britain contains over 21,000 records that will allow you to find out if your ancestors left Britain for North America or the West Indies between 1636-1815. The collection includes 10 pieces from The National Archives including colonial papers, general entry books, passenger registers and weekly immigration returns.

Each record includes both an image and a transcript of the original source material. Transcripts will reveal your ancestor’s, occupation, year of birth, the year they departed, their destination and the ship they sailed on. Depending on the type of document, images of the original records may include additional details such as marital status, former residence, and nationality of settler.

Find out if your British ancestors left for a settlement in Barbados between 1678 and 1715 with over 20,000 assorted documents including baptisms, burials, censuses, landowner lists, and other more.
Each result provides you with a transcript and image of the original record. Transcripts will reveal your ancestor’s birth year, age and parish as well as the nature of the event that was being recorded and the date. Depending on the type of document, images of the original records may include additional details such as fathers’ names or information pertaining to other North American colonies such as the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Explore over 55,000 records to uncover the details of those on board the Royal African Company’s ships to and from Africa as well as the names of those who lived and died at the numerous company forts. The records come from The National Archives T 70 series, Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa and successors.

The Royal African Company was a mercantile company from 1660 until it was dissolved in 1750. It was first incorporated as the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa before being reconstituted in 1672 as the Royal African Company of England. The Company held a monopoly over trade in West Africa and, until the 1730s, played a key role in the dark history of transatlantic slave trade. The company set up its headquarters at Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) and brought traders, merchants, miners, carpenters, native interpreters, and even distillers to build their forts and trading posts. You will also find the names of thousands of British soldiers who travelled with the company. From Africa, the company brought men, women, and children as slaves to the colonies, as well as gold, wax, and ivory. After the Royal African Company lost its monopoly on the slave trade, it focused its attention on the ivory and gold markets.

Browse 27 volumes of Royal African Company records to learn about the crucial role the company played in the abominable history of the transatlantic slave trade. The system enslaved millions of African men, women, and children over several centuries before finally being abolished in Britain in 1807 after years of campaigning.